


The New You

by Wle0416



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Boys Talking, Happy Ending, Little bit of angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:14:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26367010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wle0416/pseuds/Wle0416
Summary: Alex and Michael run into each other at a boutique, after not speaking in a few weeks.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 15
Kudos: 115





	The New You

"Okay, but how do my arms look?"

Kyle spun around to face Alex, who was sitting on a small bench outside the men's dressing room of a local boutique. Kyle had tried on approximately seventeen shirts over the hour they'd been in the store, and Alex was beyond tired of telling Kyle how good his biceps looked.

"They look the same as they did in the last twelve," Alex said through a tight, fake smile.

"Come on, Alex. This is the shirt, right?" Kyle whirled around to look in the mirror, even turning sideways to flex his bicep in the short-sleeve maroon button-down.

Alex stood up and patted Kyle on the back, making eye contact with Kyle in the mirror and giving him the warmest grin he could muster. "That's definitely the one."

Kyle smiled back. "I know you're bored, but I really appreciate this. I haven't been to a family function with a girlfriend and her family in a long time. And when I'm nervous, I like to shop."

"I get it. And it's okay. But you owe me. And I plan on collecting," Alex replied, laughing mostly to himself. As he turned around to walk back toward the main section of the store, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Michael and Isobel on the other side of the store looking at a rack of necklaces.

Alex and Michael hadn't seen each other in weeks. Not since the aftermath of CrashCon, Jesse's death, and Alex's debut at the Pony. He'd heard through the grapevine that Michael and Maria had split, but he hadn't gotten a chance to talk to either of them about it. He was knowingly being a crap friend lately and trying to snap out of his funk, which was why he'd agreed to spend some time with Kyle that Sunday afternoon.

Isobel spotted Alex before Michael, and her mouth quirked up into a fascinating grin as she nudged Michael's shoulder and pointed in Alex's direction. He looked unsure of how to react to Alex, choosing to display pure indifference across his face.

"Alex Manes in a boutique. I never thought I'd see the day," Isobel quipped as she walked right up to Alex, with Michael reluctantly trailing behind.

Alex looked away bashfully for a moment. "I'm here with-"

"Me!" Kyle exclaimed with bravado, as he joined the threesome, who crowded around a rack of overpriced trousers.

"Now, this makes more sense," Isobel muttered.

"You know what? This is perfect. Do you have a minute to help me with something, Isobel? I wanna get something small for Steph." Kyle walked around to take Isobel's arm and whisked her away before she even had a chance to respond.

Alex and Michael were then left standing with only a few feet between them, though it could have been an ocean for how distant it felt.

"So, how have you been?" Alex tried to sound casual, but his voice betrayed him. It was squeaky and unnatural.

Michael nodded. "I'm good. You?"

"I'm okay. Been busy with work and, uh, other stuff. You know how it goes." Alex shoved his hands into his jeans, swaying a bit awkwardly.

Michael raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I know how that goes."

A long silence overtook them, with Alex wondering if he should walk away and leave Michael alone. There was no reason for things to be this painfully uncomfortable, and Alex felt like saying so.

"This is weird, right? Why is this weird?"

Michael shrugged, which Alex would have taken as continued indifference if he didn't see the creases in his forehead start to disappear. "I don't know. It's been a while. You've been MIA."

Kyle had already guilted him enough over the past few days about his recent recluse status, and he wasn't sure he wanted to endure another round of it on his day off.

"I know. Kyle already gave me an earful. I just needed some time to process, well, everything."

Michael seemed sympathetic to Alex's words, and his face continued to soften, the corners of his mouth turning down. "I'm sorry, Alex."

"Sorry for what?"

It was Michael's turn to look unsteady on his feet. "For a lot of things."

Alex didn't know how to react, but he was spared from overthinking when Isobel and Kyle came back over, seemingly oblivious to the seriousness of the conversation they interrupted. Isobel had a ridiculously ugly belt in her hand, and she was waving it in Michael's face with sheer excitement.

"Iz, no," Michael said flatly.

Isobel was never one to be deterred. "Oh, come on!"

"That is not me."

"You're right; it's not. But this is for the new you!" Isobel was animated and borderline loud. "The new Michael Guerin needs a new belt!"

Kyle was laughing at the exchange, clearly loving seeing Michael squirm a bit. But Alex was confused.

The new Michael Guerin? What did that mean? Come to think of it, why were Michael and Isobel here? Besides the belt, Isobel also had a couple of men's shirts in her hands, meaning they were shopping for Michael, not Isobel, as Alex had erroneously assumed.

"I think you should get it, Guerin. It really brings out your eyes," Kyle deadpanned, narrowing his eyes a fraction.

"Bite me, Valenti."

"Nah. You would like it too much."

Alex huffed a laugh and then had to endure the Michael evil eye before Isobel pulled Michael toward a rack of clothes, officially paying him and Kyle dust. 

"You ready to go?" Kyle asked as the two made their way to the register.

Alex followed behind but didn't respond. His attention was solely focused on Michael and his continued annoyance over this idea that there was a new Michael Guerin that Alex knew nothing about. He thought about asking Kyle what it meant, as he'd probably had more unintentional communication with Michael than he did, but he wasn't in the mood for Kyle's advice. It always came from a good place, but it usually made him feel silly. He'd have all these questions and a ton of hesitation, and Kyle would tell him to just talk to Guerin like it was ever that simple between them.

After Kyle paid for his items, Alex followed him toward the door but stopped short of leaving when he saw Isobel was on her cell phone, and Michael was perusing a rack of belts by himself. "Hey, give me five minutes."

Kyle looked over to where Guerin was and rolled his eyes before smiling wickedly. "Take your time. I'm going to get an ice cream cone."

Alex walked up to Michael, and this time he stood securely in front of him as if their perplexing dance from a few minutes prior had never taken place. He was admiring a gorgeous leather belt with a striking longhorn buckle.

"Hey. Can we talk?"

Michael didn't look at all surprised to see Alex back in his space, and he couldn't help but smirk. "What do you want to talk about, Alex?"

"What is this new you Isobel was talking about? Is everything okay?"

Michael brought his hands together and placed them against his groin. "She was trying to be funny."

The fact that Michael thought he could lie to Alex after all this time was almost cute. Almost. "Will you just tell me what's going on? Please."

Michael seemed to think about his next words, eyes never leaving Alex's as he thought. "I've just been making some changes over the past few months. It's really nothing major. Isobel blows everything out of proportion."

Alex considered what he said carefully. "What kind of changes?"

"Do you even care?"

Alex felt like he'd been doused with a bucket of cold water. "Michael."

Michael sighed, bringing his hands up to tousle his curls. "I'm sorry. Again. I've just missed you. I wanted to give you space, but god, I missed you these past couple of weeks."

Before he could even stop himself, Alex reached out to place a hand on Michael's forearm. "I missed you, too. Since coming back to Roswell, so much has happened. And after my Dad, I just needed some time alone. I'm not sure why, but it just felt easier to deal with all these complicated emotions by myself. But maybe that was stupid; I don't know. I'm sorry I made you feel like I didn't care about you in some way."

"Isobel is helping me start up my own business." The words came tumbling out of Michael's mouth quickly, almost like he needed to spit it out and then brace himself for impact.

"Michael, oh my god. Wow. That's amazing." Alex was full of warmth, and he was smiling so brightly.

"It's nothing major—just a fix-it kind of business. I've always been told I was good with my hands," Michael lingered on those last few words.

Alex adored flirty, forward Michael, but he wasn't about to go down that road right now. "Stop saying this isn't major. I'm very proud of you. I wish I'd gotten my head out of my ass and been a better friend to you lately."

"Hey, I'll stop downplaying my stuff if you stop feeling bad about needing to work through your feelings in a comfortable way that worked for you. You went through hell, and you needed a break. I can understand that."

Alex extended his hand to Michael. "You have a deal."

Michael took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. They stayed locked in their handshake for several seconds before Isobel broke them apart by handing Michael a bunch of clothes to try on.

Michael put the belt he'd been carrying back on the rack, and Alex frowned at him. "You're not going to get the belt? It would look great on you."

He blushed something terrible before shaking his head slightly. "It's a little out of my price range. This whole store is. But maybe one day."

Alex took that answer in stride. He decided to leave them to their shopping trip, but not before sneakily making his way over to the register when he saw the two of them disappear into the changing area.

He found Kyle sitting on a nearby bench trying to deal with two vanilla ice cream cones that were starting to melt, and he'd never been happier in his life to have friends who cared about him and let him be his complete self. 

He wasn't going to disappear on these people again.

When he woke up the next morning, he wasn't surprised to see he had two texts from Michael.

The first was a selfie in his airstream, the longhorn belt Alex had purchased and left on his doorstep the evening before on full display.

The second one was a simple question that made his heart soar.

_You got anything that needs fixing, Private?_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)


End file.
